raildust

[jimmonte]

anyone having raildust problems with GM
thanks for all your responses but my problem is that GM came in and audited me and said to stop taking care of raildust until the customer complains about it, hopefully they won't before tha 12/12 is up. What kind of customer satisfaction are we going for, has anyone been told to stop doing raildust before delivery?

[This message has been edited by jimmonte (edited 08-03-2000).]

[This message has been edited by jimmonte (edited 08-03-2000).]

[Rex]

What is it?

[sallen1]

Rail dust is damage to paint surfaces that occurs due to train transportation. When it occurs is questioned. The fine 'dust' from the train's wheels grinding on the rails settle onto the cars and over time, rust develops (due to rain or dew) and you can see it in the clearcoats.

It is a strange condition because some dealers have lots of rail dust problems and others have none. These dealers get cars from the same yard so it's hard to nail down the source. Obviously, GM would like the transportation companies to cover the expense of fixing rail dust.

There are two ways to minimize the problem: 1) completely seal the paint surfaces at the factory and 2) completely wash and buff the vehicle the day it hits the dealership. Even if GM doesn't wrap the cars, cleaning the cars helps a bunch since you get the dust off before it rusts sitting on your lot.

scott

[This message has been edited by sallen1 (edited 07-25-2000).]

[geomc]

From what I understand, most of the manufacturers have a plan (technical service bullentin)to handle this "rail Dust".
Has anyone run into any problems with these T.S.B's? I know that it seems to be handled fairly well at Ford.

[Michael White]

In central California, we see quite a bit of it. You will only see the rail dust on white cars, with an occasional light silver. Traditionally it does not require buffing. There are 2 forms of removal: a acid clean or clay method. Both work pretty good. It will pay approx 1 hour and there is a special labor operation for it. I use to submit them as transportation claims, but was yelled at by PMT for it. GM is suppose to take care of it. Even though you only see the rail dust, which looks like little rust dots (on white cars), you sure can feel it on other cars. If left too long, it feels like fallout. Rail dust has been a problem for many years. I am surprised some of you are not aware of it. Since GM is responsible for it, you probably are absorbing the cost of its remova! You should check with your service managers on it. So do not abuse it, or the warranty poeple will come knocking at your door.
Mike

[Ron Ketcham]

The correct term is ferrous metal oxides and are produced by many sources other than the rail transport. We work with all the manufacturers and this concern is not going away. Your dealership may be producing the particle, or the metal desk manufacturer down the street, the new building they are putting up across the street as the cut and weld, and grind the steel.It may be that the wind is blowing by your brake lathe and carrying them to the vehicles. These particles are very small, in most cases invisable to the naked eye when they attach to the surface. They are negatively charged and since all vehicles carry a positive charge, are magnetically attached to the paint surface. The introduction of heat and humidity starts the corrossive process. This in turn creates the "orange spots" on light colored cars and the "white or silver spots" on dark colored cars. The Ford TSM, Mazda and Hyundai bulletins for removal are on www.autoint.com as well as other Tech Tips, magazine technical articles regarding enviormental paint concerns. There are some images you may download under the Tech Tips section that may help you in explaining to the customer the issues. Like a picture of a modern hi-solid OEM paint system on a steel panel magnified 5000x. It is a sponge. The Ford bulletin goes into detail using pictograms of what happens when you only buff or clay a vehicle. It will come back as all you removed was the "blooming" of the particle. As soon as the vehicle is exposed to heat and moisture, they re-bloom and the customer is back. Our Tech staff will answer any questions you may have on this concern.

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Ron Ketcham

[This message has been edited by Ron Ketcham (edited 08-16-2000).]